George Hallett
Marie Stella von Saldern
The Miracle of Lourdes
The town of Lourdes, where in 1858, a 14-year-old local girl is believed to have experienced an apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary showing her the spring of healing waters in the remote Grotto of Massabielle has developed into a major place of Christian pilgrimage. Thousands of ailing people and their family members, from all over the world come to the sanctuary every year in hope of spiritual as well as physical healing and consolation.
"My images are a documentation of some of the moments I witnessed on my journey to Lourdes, a place where values, such as humility and humanity are more important than status and education ; a place where miracles do happen, but may go by unnoticed at the time. These miracles are impossible to be represented in figures and statistics but the numbers of pilgrims are on the increase, their hope and enthusiasm generated by stories, by word of mouth, from those who have found healing and/or consolation."
Lourdes n’était qu’un petit bourg le 11 février 1858, lorsque Bernadette Soubirous rencontra au bord du Gave la "Dame" qui conféra à la ville sa qualité de cité mariale. Au cœur des Pyrénées, Lourdes accueille chaque année plus de 5 millions de visiteurs venus du monde entier. Ici la spiritualité appartient à l’histoire et s’inscrit dans le présent par la force et par la beauté du site, les marques du passé et le recueillement au sein des Sanctuaires.
"Mes images sont une documentation de certains moments dont j’ai été témoin lors de mon voyage à Lourdes, un lieu où les valeurs, comme l’humilité et
l’ humanité sont plus importantes que le statut et l’éducation ; un lieu où les miracles se produisent, dont certains ne sont même pas visibles. On ne peut compter ces miracles, mais le nombre de pèlerins est en constante croissance, leurs espoirs et leur enthousiasme sans cesse attisés par les témoignages de ceux qui ont trouvé la guérison et/ou l’apaisement.
Memento Vivere
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"Half of these photographs were made during the first few days after my grandmother passed away. The other half were made over the last 2 years during which time both my son and my nephew were born.
Initially taking pictures was an instinctive response to mourning. It was my first real encounter with mortality ; my own or other’s. There was an overwhelming urge to say something substantial which I simply could not – cannot - fully articulate. But although I felt constantly struck dumb by the simple force of finality, there was a richness and an intensity of feeling that I had never experienced before.
And now babies seem to be everywhere and with them a similar richness and intensity which is not that dissimilar in some ways. In many cases one might be surprised to find out which of these images were taken when and they thus reflect the amplification of feeling that occurs within a family around the big events in life.
For me they are a reminder of our mortality and thus also a reminder to live fully now."
Mardi 7 Octobre - 19:00 - Tuesday 7th October
Entrée Libre / Free for all
Hall de l’Alliance française du Cap
155, Loop Street, Le Cap
Tel : 021- 423 5699
